Perfect Fit - Slick Rick

[Dwan]

I was using Derek Anderson as an example. Want another one? When he was at CU, he would only recruit Marques Tuiissappso as a linebacker out of high school. Was convinced he could never play QB in college. Ironically, Washington offered him has a QB and when Rick was the coach at UW, Marcus led the team to a Rose Bowl and 11-1 record his senior year.

Washington is still suffering today from Slick Rick's recruiting woes at Washington. The team went from 11-1 to 1-11 in three years largely due to a lack of talent on the team.

[Dwan]

He did have top 25 classes his last two years. Not many of those players panned out except for Reggie Williams, who was from Tacoma and wanted to stay home.

You are looking at his overall record and his top classes. Look how his teams and his programs at CU and UW got worse and then went to crap after he left. Look at all the high rated players he recruited who never panned out. I think he would be a fine coach at a BCS school, just not at a place where the key to the job would be identifying talent that is over looked and then developing that talent.

[Peruna8891]

Enough already! I am ready for the drama to be over with. RN would be a great hire for us on many fronts. Not perfect, but pretty dog gone good and high profile. Let's just pick him and let's do it.

I say we tee up the Hippo at 9:00 tomorrow morning and strom Orsini's office. Well hog tie him and have the general make the call to RN. then its off to Love and take da plane and pick him up. Can anybody fly that thing? its got 2 engines you know. and if Kate is lucky, we'll let here serve coffee and refreshments on board. Otherwise, she rides outside.

[huskerpony]

Sorry to bring this thread back up, but I have some info pertaining to it.


Spoke to my dad, (was Sports Editor of a Big 12 newspaper at the time), and asked him if RN was going to be fired when he left for UW. I got a flat out "I don't know the answer to that." Apparently there was at least a decent amount of speculation at the time that he might be on the chopping block, but took the UW job in the meantime, so no one knows what was happening internally there.

He also said he couldn't remember the timing of the NCAA investigation into the ineligible player from the year before and having to forfeit the season, so was unsure whether or not that was pending at the time or a factor in his leaving.

We do know that Colorado did not make a big effort to retain him/match the offer.



So this also begs the question why RN would leave a top Big 12 program for a struggling Pac-10 program? (Remember the Big 12 was much stronger than the Pac-10 at that point and UW had not recovered from probation) Only the $$$$? Doubt it. Who has ever done anything like that? Left the pinnacle of NCAA football to go to a lesser school and conference for $? Osborne, Switzer, Bowden, Paterno, Schembeckler? All of those guys had plenty of offers to go other places for more $. Switzer and Spurrier at least left for the NFL. Even Osborne's assistants had a lot of NFL offers and never took them. Only Nutt and the guy from BC, in recent memory, have done anything like that and they were both in miserable situations.

RN's actions would be the equivalent of Jeff Tedford leaving Cal this year for Kansas State or Purdue (or GT, Duke, or SMU to name some open jobs!) Even if they offered him $4 mil, Tedford probably wouldn't take it. He would renegotiate his contract at Cal. They would pay if they wanted to keep him. Colorado obviously didn't want to pay to keep RN.

Makes sense to move up or lateral for $, not down. [hmmm...SMU's problem right now?]

Even if it were true he only left for the more lucrative offer and Colorado just couldn't match it, is that the kind of coach a parent wants his kid to play under--one who left all of his recruited players at a top program for money being flashed by a non-contender? No. They want the guy that stays for less, the guy that can teach their son about loyalty and commitment, and more importantly the guy that would rather compete at the highest levels than go to the middle to rack up wins and $.



Therefore I say BOO Rick Neuheisel! But if we are seriously considering Troy Calhoun instead of RN--what the hell are we doing? Flash some money, bring him in for 2-3 years to turn things around, improve recruiting and perceptions, and then can him before the downward spiral begins and bring in a better coach while we're on a roll!


ANYONE WORSE THAN BARNETT OR NEUHEISEL IS NOT AN OPTION!!!!!

[Dwan]

Washington offered him a lot of money. At the time it was a million bucks. He bolted for the money and he was wearing out his welcome in boulder with the sanctions and 5 loss seasons. Washington was not near a Purdue or KState. They won a national title in 91 and were still going to bowl games and winning 7 to 8 games a year when RN took over for LAmbright

[huskerpony]

Washington offered him a lot of money. At the time it was a million bucks. He bolted for the money and he was wearing out his welcome in boulder with the sanctions and 5 loss seasons. Washington was not near a Purdue or KState. They won a national title in 91 and were still going to bowl games and winning 7 to 8 games a year when RN took over for LAmbright

KState/Purdue used for poetic license, but Georgia Tech would be a comparable situation--former national champion, winning 7-8 games per year. Tedford isn't leaving Cal for a GT, ever.

The most important part of what you said was "wearing out his welcome in boulder with the sanctions and 5 loss season."

That is my point. I'm tired of everyone saying he only left because of the lucrative offer. Colorado wanted him gone and simply said, Thank you sir, Goodbye!

(And I was just providing follow-up from earlier. Told everyone I would find out from my dad if he knew whether RN was going to be fired before UW ponied up the dough.)

[Dwan]

he also wore out his welcome at UW. The guy is a terrible fit for SMU.

I don't agree with your assessment of the UW job. They had something like 25 winning seasons and 20 straight bowl games when RN took the job. From 1988-1994 it was one of the most dominant programs in college football. Colorado on the other hand had been a doormat that McCartney turned around into a national power in the late 80s/early 90s. By the time RN left they were back to winning 6 to 7 games a year.

[huskerpony]

he also wore out his welcome at UW. The guy is a terrible fit for SMU.

I don't agree with your assessment of the UW job. They had something like 25 winning seasons and 20 straight bowl games when RN took the job. From 1988-1994 it was one of the most dominant programs in college football. Colorado on the other hand had been a doormat that McCartney turned around into a national power in the late 80s/early 90s. By the time RN left they were back to winning 6 to 7 games a year.

Oh I totally agree UW was a powerhouse. They were just struggling in comparison to those years and in comparison to the current situation at Colorado. And the PAC-10 wasn't what it is today at that point. USC and Cal weren't turned around yet, UW was still recovering from porbation, etc. (Conference champs 97-99: WSU, UCLA, Stanford) At that time, the SEC and Big 12 were the powerhouses.

I suppose you could make an argument that it was easier to make a championship run from the PAC-10 at that point, but that is usually a consideration for coaches making a move up (ie: Michigan and Nebraska being more desirable than A&M or Arkansas for a Pelini/Grobe/Kelly due to being in weaker conferences/divisions.) Coaches don't just leave a team that has consistently been contending for the conference title in one of the top 2 conferences in the country to go resurrect another program, regardless of the prior history of the 2 programs.

Although I still wouldn't be totally surprised if Miles leaves LSU for Michigan, but that is a little bit different situation than RN and UW.


And I agree he is a terrible fit for SMU. I think we're on the same page. I've been growing tired of all the RN sunshine on this board. (He would be better than some of the other idiots being touted by some of these people, but I personally don't think he has what it takes to turn SMU around.)